Detention closure



March 3, 1936. D, G. FRIES ET AL DETENTI ON CLOSURE Filed June 6, 1934 2s heetsfiheet l INVENTORS. DAN/EL G. [AP/5.

BY DAN/1. PIP/1535A. M QM ATTORNEYS,

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS,

March 3, 1936. D G. FRIES ET AL DETENTION CLOSURE Filed June 6, 1954 M mV 5 M. v M

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Patented Mar. 3, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DETENTION CLOSUREApplication June 6, 1934, Serial No. 729,313

8 Claims.

Our invention primarily relates to detention closures in the nature ofbarred windows for use in prisons or other penal institutions; althoughit is also applicable for use in prison doors and other closures. In thefollowing description reference will be made to our invention asincorporated in prison windows, however we .do not wish to limitourselves to that specific modification since its use in other closureswill be fully apparent.

The existing and usual form of prison window comprises a series ofvertical bars placed across the opening of the window and sufficientlyclose together to prevent the restrained prisoner from working his waybetween them and escaping. Sometimes a series of horizontal bars arealso placed across the windows in order to more surely prevent exit, andalso to strengthen the closure as a whole. These bars are made oftool-resisting steel, or of soft steel containing strips oftoolresisting steel rolled into them. While this type of steel bar formsno part of our invention we prefer to use it in our invention, withoutbeing limited thereto, because it effectively prevents the cutting ofthe bars with hack-saw blades and other forms of cutting instruments.The existing barred windows from their very nature present a veryunsightly appearance both from the outside of the prison and from theinside. This is a disadvantage which heretofore has been consideredinherent in prisons, but which architects have unsuccessfully attemptedto overcome. The modern tendency in the construction of penalinstitutions is to make them the least objectionable as possible inregard to their appearance, but on the other hand to maintain theirstrength and confining capacity.

It is an object of our invention to provide a prison window or closurewhich has all the strength necessary to detain the prisoner, but whichalso presents a very pleasing appearance both from the inside and theoutside of the institution.

It is a further object of our invention to provide a prison window orclosure which is readily erected, and which may conform to the shape ofthe existing window openings.

In some of our modifications it is our object to provide a closure whichmay be built around the existing bars in the window without removing orweakening them, but which will greatly add to their appearance andstrength.

It is another object of our invention to provide a closure which permitsthe placing of panes of glass between the restraining bars, and whichholds them in place without the use of a supplemental framework. It isour object to do this in such a manner that the panes of glass mayeasily be replaced if they should become broken.

It is a further object of our invention to provide all of the above at avery minimum of expense, since the cost of constructing prisons is avery important item in their construction.

These and other objects of our invention which will be set forthhereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon readingthese specifications, we accomplish by that cer-' tain construction andarrangement of parts of which we shall now describe a preferredembodiment. Reference is now made to the drawings which form a partthereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a front View of a window made in accordance with ourinvention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective of a portion of our window, showing one of themodifications of our invention.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a cross-section of a bar which is one of the modifications ofour invention, and which is used in constructing a window.

Fig. 5 is a perspective of a portion of our novel window made inaccordance with one of our modifications.

Fig. 6 is a. cross-section of a bar illustrating one of ourmodifications.

Fig. '7 is a front view of a portion of a window made in accordance withone of our modifications.

Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. '7.

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 10, 11 and 12 are cross-sections of different bars showingdifferent modifications of our invention.

' Briefly, our invention comprises the placing of 4 a covering havingprojecting flanges over the bars of a prison window and fastening thewhole together in order to form an integral unit, and fastening panes ofglass against the flanges of the covering in order to give the pleasingappearance as indicated in Figure 1. Our different modifications showthe different forms of the covering, and also show modifications inwhich the bar, as an integral unit, is formed with projecting flanges inorder to hold the panes of glass. We do not intend to limit ourselves tothe exact configuration or form of the covering, or form of the barsthemselves, but intend to cover all forms which will hold the glass inindividual units integral with the bars themselves.

Referring to Fig. 2 in the drawings, the vertical bars I of the closureare in a single plane and contact the horizontal bars 2 which are in adifferent plane. These bars I and 2 are preferably made of steel havingtool-resisting strips 3, which are rolled therein, and it is understoodthat the bars are placed close enough together to prevent any prisonerfrom working his way between them. There is a channel shaped cover 4, inwhich the channel portion is slightly larger than the diameter of thebars, placed around the bars in such a manner that the bars I and 2 aresnugly positioned within the channel. There are projecting flanges and5',.integral with and a part of the cover 4 which oppositely projectfrom the edges of the channel portion and at right angles to the walls 6of the cover 4.. Inasmuch as the vertical bars I and the horizontal bars2 of the modification shown in Figs. 2'and a single plane. Asillustrated in Fig. 2, the covers 4, positioned over the vertical barsI, are continuous and cut out at the points! where they cross the,horizontal bars 2. The covers over the horizontal bars 2 are a series ofshort lengths, with the ends of the flanges 5 and 5' beveled so as tosnugly fit into the cut out points I of the vertical covers which inturn are configured to receive them. T-shaped strips 8 are placed overthe flanges 5 and 5 in such a manner that the web 9 of the strip 8projects away from the bars I and 2, and so that the cross-piece III ofthe strip 8 covers the channel portion of the cover 4 andthus enclosesthe bars I and 2 within, the 'cover 4. These T-shaped strips 8 may becut out so as to permit a continuous and unbroken webs on the strips 8covering the flanges 5, 5

A: of the'covers '4surrounding the vertical bars I,

one of them merely necessitates the replacement ,of that pane withoutthe necessity of replacing the total glass in a given window. 7

It is apparent from the above that'the result is an integral barredwindow whichmay be made in any form desirable, and which maybepleasingly configurated as is indicated in Figure 1.

If it is not desirable to place bars at theedge of the window, ledges I3may be placed on the window jam I9 in the same plane as the crosspiecesIn of the T-shaped'strips 8 in order to hold the glass II a whichcontacts the edge of the frame. In erecting the window, it is preferableto place it with the channel coverings 4 on the outside and the glass II on the inside, since this gives the pleasing and uniform appearance ofa lattice window from the outside of the institution. As the windows areusually pennanently fastened in the frame; closable. air apertures maybe hinged into the window proper as is cidedly tortuous cut with theblade.

illustrated in Fig. 9. The construction of these air vents is not a partof our invention and is old in the art; but they usually comprise ahinge I4 with a drip projection I5 on the outside, and is merely shownto illustrate how they may be applied to our novel window.

From the above description of our novel window, it is apparent that aprison window already in place and composed of vertical bars andhorizontal bars may be covered as above described without the necessityof removing any of the bars in the window. Also it is apparent thatshould the existing window merely have vertical bars, it may be covered,or horizontal bars may be inserted, or even dummy bars may be insertedin order to bring about the pleasing effect obtained by our invention.

It is apparent from the above description that a number 'ofmodifications of our invention are possible, some of which we haveillustrated in the drawings. Figures 7 and 8 illustrate the use of ourinvention with flat, vertical and horizontal bars, which are cut out sothat they all lie in the same plane. In this case it is possible to usethe channel shaped covers 4a alone, and to position the glass panes IIdirectly against the flanges 5a and to hold them in place by means ofputty I2. The modifications shown in Figs. 6, 10, 11 and 12 are believedto be self apparent from the drawings, the difference being merely inthe shape of the bars and the forms of the covers.

Within the scope of our invention we contemplate the modifications shownin Figures 4 and 5. These modifications comprise the rolling of theprison bars themselves with a cross-section having flanges St forholding the glass, and with either a rounded portion I6 (in Fig. 5) or asmoothed off square portion I6a of heavier construction than the rest(in Fig. 4). This formation provides the strength in the thickenedportion I6 and. I6a, and at the same time permits the configurationrelating to the glass holding feature and the pleasing appearance. Informing the window of this material portions of the projecting flanges5b may be cut out to provide a perfect fit and to insure all of theflanges 5b being in the same plane. While these novel bars preferablycontain tool-resisting strips 3, which are rolled into them when theyare made, it should be understood that the heating of the bars permitsthem being worked without the loss of the tool-resisting quality whenthey are cooled. When forming a window or closure in the mannerillustrated in Figure 5, the bars are all welded together after thewindow has been formed, and

thus present a single integral unit. When using the constructionillustrated in Fig. 5, it is not possible to follow the constructionweld with a hack saw blade and thus break through the bars, since theabutting endof the horizontal bar 20. is curved around the solid portionI6 of the vertical bar Ia, which portion I6 is not cut, and therefore itwould necessitate a de- Besides when constructing prison closures havingboth vertical and horizontal bars, the vertical bars are usually placedclose enough together to prevent an exit even if the horizontal barswere removed.

When our novel window or closure has been erected, it is, of course,painted to withstand weathering, and may be so painted as to conform tothe surrounding structure and thus fit appearance that is not evensuggestive of a penal institution or place of detention.

It is to be understood that different forms of our preferred form may bemade without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A barred closure comprising a set of vertical bars and a set ofhorizontal bars, channel shaped covers with extending flanges placedover said bars, and a T-shaped strip fastened to said flanges by thecross piece of the T so as to close said channel covers with the barsinside and with the web of the T extending outwardly, glass panesabutting the web of the T and resting on the cross piece of the T, allof said parts being fastened together so as to form an integral unit.

2. A barred closure comprising a set of vertical bars and a set ofhorizontal bars, said sets contacting each other, channel shaped coverswith extending flanges positioned around said bars, T-shaped stripsresting on said flanges so as to close said channels, with the web ofthe T projecting, panes of glass abutting the web of the T-shapedstrips, the whole being fastened together to form a single unit.

3. A barred closure comprising a set of vertical bars and a set ofhorizontal bars, said sets contacting each other, channel-shaped coverswith extending flanges positioned around said bars, T-shaped stripsresting on said flanges so as to close said channels, with the web ofthe T projecting, panes of glass abutting the web of the T-shapedstrips, the whole being fastened together to form a single unit, thebars being of tool resisting material.

4. A detention closure comprising a plurality of vertical bars and aplurality of horizontal bars arranged to form a plurality of rectangles,channel shaped covers having oppositely disposed projecting flangespositioned around said bars so that said flanges form a uniformhorizontal plane, T-shaped strips positioned with the cross-piece of theT against the flanges and with the web of the T projecting so as toclose said channels,

panes of glass positioned in said rectangles and abutting against saidWeb of said T, the whole being fastened together in order to form anintegral unit.

5. A barred closure comprising a set of vertical bars and a set ofhorizontal bars, said sets contacting each other, channel-shaped coverswith extending flanges positioned around said bars, T- shaped stripsresting on said flanges so as to close said channels, with the web ofthe T projecting, the whole being fastened together to form a singleunit, the bars being of tool resisting material.

6. A barred closure comprising a set of horizontal bars and a set ofvertical bars in two separate parallel planes, the bars in one planecontacting the bars in the other plane, channel shaped covers havingextending flanges positioned around and covering substantially one halfof said bars in both planes with the extending flanges in one plane,glass panes resting on said flanges, and the whole being fastenedtogether to form a single unit.

'7. A barred closure comprising a set of bars in one plane and a set ofbars in another plane, said two planes being parallel and the bars inone contacting the bars in the other, channel shaped covers havingextending flanges positioned around said bars in both planes, the depthof the channels being such that the flanges are all in the same plane,glass panes resting on said flanges, and the whole being fastenedtogether to form a single unit.

8. A barred closure comprising a set of bars in one plane and a set ofbars in another plane, said planes being parallel, channel shaped covershaving extending flanges positioned around the bars in both planes, thedepth of the channels covering the bars in one plane being greater thanthe depth of the channels covering the bars in the other plane, with theextending flanges of all the channels in one plane, glass panes restingon said flanges, and the whole being fastened together to form a singleunit.

DANIEL FRIES. DANIEL FRIES, en.

